The Apex of Our Glory
by How To Munch Death 101
Summary: Stuck on Earth during the Reaper Invasion, facing impossible odds. Being a stranger who is simply following orders. Not being able to return to your own homeworld. Who ever said Spectrehood was an easy thing? *ME 3 - Not Shepard-centric*
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer - I don't owe the Mass Effect universe, it belongs to Bioware. I am simply using it to set my own non-profit fan-fiction story.  
**

**Note - The story doesn't necessarily follow the plot of ME3****, just the setting.**

**The Apex of Our Glory - Prologue**

_Spectre status recognized. _

_Identification scanning is in process, please stand still._

_DNA scan complete, please enter primary and secondary passwords._

_Passwords confirmed. Vocal traces are a match._

_To finalize the entry, please present Spectre ID._

_Serial number confirmed._

_Welcome Spectre Pacis, it has been 6 hours, 4 minutes and 24 seconds since your last log in. It is currently 11:23 in the morning, by local earthen time. Your current location is Vancouver-_

"Thank you, but I don't need to be reminded of where I am. It isn't as if I haven't heard it the first fifty times."

The VI ignored him, content to keeping its useless babble going. Pacis sighed, realizing that he should simply accept his undesirable fate.

_Your order of __**ONE SPECTRE ISSUE **__**SCORPION PISTOL **__has been delayed because of unprecedented communication malfunctions across the whole cluster. Nonetheless, the prototype Quantum Entanglement Communicator installed on this Omni tool is still in a perfectly working condition. _

He wasn't going to get his long-awaited pistol any time soon, but at least he could still contact his superiors. About that.

"Connect me to General Corinthus, I have a report to deliver."

_Just a moment. _

The Omni tool flashed from its typical orange glow to a deep blue tone in an unsure manner. The early noon sun peeked through the hastily shut window, but the room remained dark, mostly illuminated by the indigo shine that blinked like a drowsy animal.

It was prototype technology, as he was reminded constantly. QECs were being installed on many cruisers and command posts, but the tech hasn't been quite adapted for Omni tools yet. Smoothness was a sacrifice that he was willing to take.

The shapeless figure slowly morphed into something more recognizable. Corinthus' features became easier to make out, though the blurriness stubbornly stayed, a thing that the Spectre was accustomed to by now. The general's green eyes trained on him expectantly.

After a crisp salute, Pacis started talking, "General, I've just returned from another discussion with the human defence comity. They have lost contact with their fleets and stations beyond Sol. Any attempt to raise anyone has failed, even the QECs seem to be offline."

The general mandibles narrowed in a frown, contemplating for a few moment. It gave the Spectre time to apprehend his appearance: the turian looked distracted and worried, despite trying to hide it. His white clan marking reflected a different light than usual, have he moved to another location?

"Is their military ready for action?" The turian asked.

"Most of their military force is orbiting Earth right now, but from what I heard, not all of the fleets are present. They are trying to avoid a drastic public reaction, but Special Operations and Emergency Units are on standby. If these _Reapers_ are coming, they will be ready to act." Pacis reported, before hesitating.

The general caught the little halt.

"What is it Spectre Pacis?"

The turian considered his position for a moment, but decided that his question had to be asked.

"Permission to speak freely?" He tested the waters, making the general look at him in suspicion.

"Granted."

Despite being given permission, Pacis made sure to carefully phrase his thoughts out.

"What is the purpose of me being on Earth, sir? The Reapers are bound to attack very soon. Wouldn't my services be more of a use for the Turian Hierarchy?"

The general made a noncommittal sound in the back of his throat, though he did not look surprised at the question.

"You saw what happened to the Batarians, _Spectre_. The Hegemony was destroyed in a matter of days. I can't say that I'm sad to see them go, but considering the military finesse they had, we need to acknowledge the magnitude of the Reaper threat. The Spectres are... one of our best combat unit, being extremely effective despite operating alone. All evidence is pointing at the Human Alliance as being the next target of the Reapers, and we need to offer some support. If our calculations are correct, we will not be able to face this threat alone."

Pacis blinked in surprise, not expecting such a detailed reply. It made sense, but some questions still remained, causing him to insist: "But why a turian Spectre? Considering our history with the humans, wouldn't an asari be able to communicate much better with them?"

A scowl set on the usually unimpressionable general's face.

"The Asari have been... inflexible about the Reaper issue. It was not questioned three years ago, when we believed that _Sovereign _was nothing but an advanced Geth dreadnaught, but with the overwhelming evidence that has been presented ever since, there's no point in denying it. The barefaces can deny it as much as they want, but we have been busy doing our own researches and preparations."

With that, the Turian admitted, he could not argue. The Council has been adamant to hide from the truth for too long. It was up for the grunts to take the initiative.

Red tape could only cover up reality to an extent. Many Spectres have questioned the events that occurred in the past few years. When their superiors refused to provide satisfying answers, some of them decided to find out by themselves.

Unbeknown to the Council, many preparations and investigations were put on course. They were silently supported by STG and branches from the turian army, joined by the human Alliance with new information about the Collectors.

"I don't think we can really count on them helping against the Reapers, it seems like they have their own agenda. To be honest with you, I have a feeling the Salarians won't stay around for long either. You can guess who's left to stand against the Reapers." The general said with a grim smile.

The Spectre could share the sentiment with an ironic smile of his own. It was fitting in a twisted way; the two races that were divided by war will have to reunite to hope for a victory in just another war. Violence conducted and connected the galaxy, just like the Mass Relays, from alliances to extinction. No memorable event in history has transpired without having violence as its catalyst.

"What about Shepard? Isn't she on Earth?" Pacis asked. The human Spectre gained quite the reputation since her recruitment, despite her shady dealings.

"They put her on detention for blowing up the Alpha Relay. She delayed their arrival, but the humans can't really ignore the deaths of all these Batarians. Not that it matters anymore." The general muttered.

A sudden pulse of static went through the image, distorting it for a moment. The Turian could've sworn he felt the ground tremble under him. The other member of the call didn't seem to notice, continuing to talk.

"We are obviously the next target, but we need to make sure that the humans keep fighting. That's your mission, Spectre." His voice slipped back into the official tone, but that wasn't the thing that distracted the Turian.

An overwhelming mechanic screech hit against the drums of his ears, drawing a pained wince from him.

"Do...n't...et Ea...h fall, at...ny ...ost."

That was the only thing the Spectre could make out from the abrupt deformation of the general's voice.

He was halfway to the door by the time the blazing red lights and wailing alarms kicked in.

Being a Spectre allowed him to be prepared for situations like this, being a turian allowed him to stay completely calm. Unlike the squishy humans that he was supposed to be saving.

Retreat. Regroup. Retaliate.

There was a reason why Pacis insisted on getting a sleeping space on ground level, but he was politely refused at the time. Now, he had to worry about getting out of a forty storey high building.

A human soldier ran by him, in a complete panic. The Spectre grabbed him by the shoulder, forcing the youngling to make eye contact.

"Calm down! There are people relying on you right now. Who's your commanding officer ?" Pacis demanded. Admiral Anderson should be around somewhere, but meeting up with the man was currently impossible. He needed someone who could control the troops.

Taking a shallow breath, the soldier tried to compose himself before answering, "Lieutenant Commander Durand is the unit's officer, she should be on the ground floor, by the HQ." To further prove his guess, a female's voice rang out in the hallway through the announcement box, commanding every person to evacuate the building and stick to an armed soldier. At least someone was keeping cool.

On the way down, the turian encountered a few more panicking soldiers, and despite getting odd looks, he went through the same procedure with each one of them. Keep the morale up, there was much more to come.

Once he stepped into the entrance hallway that was full to the brim with terrified civilians and nervous soldiers, it was simple enough to locate the lady in command. The officer was wearing a full armour suit, talking to five other high rankers. Her stance was rigid yet steady.

With purposeful strides, the turian reached her in no time. His unique appearance drew her attention quickly; seeing a fully tailored turian(in Spectre level armour nonetheless) on Earth mustn't be a common sight. Thankfully, the human barely even blinked, obviously informed of his presence.

"Spectre Pacis, I was hoping you'll join us." She greeted him, ignoring the looks her companions gave her. He nodded at her before snapping a salute. Even though she could be considered a lower rank than his, it was necessary that the _human _soldier was seen in charge. The Lieutenant Commander realized that as well, and her silent thanks was sent to him.

"Wouldn't miss the greeting party for anything in the world. I need to get to one of the Admirals." He told her, running a quick look around the room. No, she was the highest ranking personnel here.

She frowned in thought.

"Most of the Admirals should've been orbiting earth on the fleets, but since these... Reapers are here, I'm guessing it didn't go too well. I do know that Admiral Anderson is here, somewhere. We need to escort the civilians to a safe zone, you can contact him from there." The Commander informed him, letting him know what he already suspected.

"Of course Commander, I'll make sure to offer my help in any way I can." He replied. It was inevitable of course; right now securing citizens was the number one priority.

Retreat. Regroup. Retaliate. If he had a mantra, these three words would feature constantly in it.


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

"Pacis! Cover our retreat, we need to get the civvies out of here. Smith, L'Heureux, you're with him. Get to one of the extraction zones from there, I'll see you at the base. " Durand's voice rang out in his ear, harsh from the poor radio frequency.

Things have gone down in an alarming pace. Getting the civilians into the various Makos and shuttles wasn't too hard, despite the general nervous atmosphere. The human officer handled herself very well. They were met by a support unit that was responsible of defending the streets while evacs were in progress.

Once the Spectre stepped outside, he had to take a moment to let the view sin k in. The once peaceful yet busy surface was thrown into chaos: alarms and explosions pierced the air, the erratic movement of organics and synthetics as one, and most noticeable the looming outlines of Reapers landing in the city. Their immediate area was left untouched for now, but many other sectors of Vancouver already burned.

He read numerous reports about them, heard hundreds of descriptions and seen illustrations, but nothing came close to the actual sight of a Reaper. Pacis could barely even see the top of the huge ship, further highlighting their sizes. Not even Indomitable, the only Turian dreadnought the Spectre served on, could compare to them. The amount of destruction caused by one lone ship was horrifying, they were in for a hell of a fight.

But it wasn't only the size or firepower that defined the Reapers as some harbingers of extinction. Looking at the dark purple shape of the synthetic made a lump rise in his throat, but it was no fear that he felt. The Spectre felt akin of sick admiration, coupled with a gnawing feeling inside of his head. Echoes of whispers could be made out in his head, coercing him to come towards them.

It was a disturbing draw, one that refused to leave his mind. Pacis tried to avoid looking at them, concentrating on moving people as fast as possible.

That plan became invalid once one of the Reapers has decided to land a couple of streets away from them. Swarms of hostiles made their appearance less than five minutes later.

Husks.

It was an ingenious strategy, using your enemy's troops against them. No need to worry about resources, nor guilt, even if it was laughable for the Reapers. Simple, efficient, ruthless.

The deformed human infantry didn't pose much of a challenge, as they did not wield any weapons, it was more of a terrorising move. Citizens and even some of the troops were frozen in horror, staring at the abominations that were once humans.

Pacis had no such reservations, knowing the critical timing that was in stake. With a tap of his Omni tool, a dark gray holographic representation of armour appeared just on top of his dark blue heavy combat suit. The Spectre insignia on his chest seemed to come out in the slight light, the white wings giving the impression of flutter.

Pacis checked his HUD, confirming that his shield level has risen to 300%. Taking out his trusty Carnifex, the turian shot at the mindless with cold precision. The pistol has served him for many years, and despite going through numerous mods and upgrades, Pacis felt a sense of nostalgia every time he used it.

After some hesitation, he was joined by the humans, and they held them at bay.

The Spectre felt suspicious, not believing for a moment that it was going to be that easy to fend off the Reaper assault. However, it gave Durand the time to evacuate most of the citizens from the area.

His suspicion was proven correct when the second wave of enemies moved in. This time, it wasn't only husks. The first insect like creatures were easy to recognize; Collectors. Their unforgettable build and appearance brought Pacis back to when he only found out about the seriousness of the Reaper threat.

The stream of gun fire pinged harmlessly against his augmented shields but forced the turian to dive behind an abandoned car with a grunt. He reached to his back, grasping the HMWA assault rifle on his magnetic hold. No holding back.

With a quick glance at his HUD to reassure himself of his shield strength, Pacis came out of cover, raining down a whole clip towards the advancing army before getting back into safety.

While waiting for his weapon to cool down, the Spectre processed the information he acquired in that little glance. The Collectors were not the only new hostiles they faced. Another organic race, the blue glow of their _four _eyes indicated indoctrination... Batarians. They were stubby and unicoloured other than a few glowing spots on their corpse, it seemed as if their right arm was harshly melded into a weapon of some sort. Poor bastards.

Pacis came out of cover once again, intent on causing more damage, but he was stopped by a sight in front of him.

One of the Batarians stopped by a corpse of his comrade, crouching down and starting to _devour _his body. He felt slightly sickened by the sight of ripping flesh and dribbling blood, but that wasn't the thing that caught his attention. Rough plates started forming on the husk's body, steaming and shifting in an unnatural process.

What kind of insanely advanced technology were they facing?

Officers barked orders at soldiers and marines in a desperate attempt to hold off the assault, but it proved to be futile. The grown armour was just as thick as any standard issue protection, and they quickly found themselves outnumbered without the advantage of superior protection.

Which brought him to the current situation. At least half of the unit was torn apart by the enemy, and Durand was ordered to pull out. Of course, it was up for him to make sure her retreat was a success.

The turian wasn't angry at being chosen as the enemy's folly, it made sense. He was ordered to protect Earth at all cost, and that was one way to start doing that.

The two Privates, Smith and L'Heureux, seemed to be ready to give up their lives for the right cause. Good, they needed a lot of people like these two. But this time, even that wasn't enough.

Twenty.

In total, there must've been only fifteen soldiers remaining including Pacis, trying to hold the line. With an ever-growing ratio of five to one, they didn't stand much of a chance.

L'Heureux was the first to go, caught by chance, a dodged bullet meant to kill another. The human dropped down with a cry, causing his team mate to call out for him.

It was impossible to get to the fatally injured marine, and the turian had to shake Smith out of it.

"There will be time to mourn the dead." His words sounded hollow even to himself, but it was the only comfort he could truly offer.

He was rewarded with an anguished look, but Smith listened, concentrating on the enemy despite his friend's weakening calls for help.

Such were the dealings of war: friendship could mend a broken heart, but never a torn lung. Maybe that was why Pacis avoided the unavoidable amity.

The squad of the remaining ten soldiers was pinned in the long street canopied by the titan building around them. Overturned cars and nicks in the architecture offered a very decent amount of cover, but that wasn't enough. They simply didn't have enough manpower.

"We need evac right now! Shepherd's Avenue is clear of any civvies but we're getting pinned down. I repeat, we need to bail. Are there any shuttles in the area?" The highest ranking officer shouted into the radio, attempting to hail someone. He was met with silence.

Forty.

The Spectre shifted his body around, catching two ambitious Collectors that attempted to flank a trio of human soldiers taking cover behind a smoking Alliance shuttle. Pacis hasn't noticed its crashed landing in the fray.

Another man went down with an anguished cry, bringing their number down to eight. And yet, the number of the indoctrinated Batarians and husks refused to diminish, seemingly growing over time.

Pacis broke from his cover, running towards the shuttle while feeling his shields taking a beating. Crouching into a slide, he was able to shoot out a few bursts before his knees hit the metallic surface of the shuttle.

The humans flinched slightly, probably not expecting his tall frame to move with such agility towards them, but the turian didn't really care. He turned towards the officer, Sergeant Javier, addressing him, "We need to pull back; we have a better chance of trapping them between the buildings."

The man shook his head before replying, "Negative. We'd be dead before we can even start running. We need to evacuate."

Pacis didn't get the chance to reply, as a male voice filled their frequency, "We have a visual of your position, but you'll need to retreat; there's an LZ a hundred meters behind you. The shuttle will be there in thirty seconds. Get a move on!"

Well, another problem solved.

The Sergeant looked unsure of how to proceed. Being the one to decide who is left behind was never easy, Pacis sympathised.

"I'll cover you." He said simply.

There was a moment of hesitation, the wondering if it was proper leaving a Spectre to cover a retreat of a few grunts. Luckily, Spectres didn't care about _proper. _The message was exchanged, and the Sergeant started barking orders into the radio.

There wasn't an illusion of everyone making out alive; the chances were too deeply against them.

There was a thing called hope too, not that the turian believed in it in the first place.

His shots were much more spread when he came out of cover, trying to connect with as many hostiles as possible. But unlike any other soldier, the mindless horde was not too bothered by the possibility of death. The human husks kept running towards him with lifeless abandon while the Batarians took cover very rarely, preferring to answer the flying projectiles with their own.

A low hum made it to Pacis' ears, announcing the shuttle's arrival. A torrent of gun fire tore into the enemy ranks, telling the Spectre that they brought a gunship as well. Fancy.

Filled with foolish hope, one of the humans broke from cover to run toward the landing shuttle. He was dead before he touched the ground.

Pulling out a sphere object from his suit, he barked out, "Run!", before throwing it into the never-stopping flow of Reaper forces. The six remaining soldiers rushed towards the blue shuttle while the turian stayed put.

Sixty.

The resulting explosion sizzled against his shields angrily but Pacis held his ground, spraying fire into the smoke aided by the hovering gunship.

Risking a glance back, the Turian saw that most of them piled into the shuttle, the last straggler was limping towards it in obvious pain from a leg wound. Javier was shouting at him, but was unable to get out because of the unrelenting stream of fire, Pacis was surprised the injured man was lucky enough to be alive.

"Pacis! We're not going to wait the whole day for you. Get your ass over here." Smith's voice reached him through the radio, leaving the turian surprised. They were waiting for him?

There was no way to make the two hundred feet without getting shredded and he already spent his only grenade. The Spectre hated to rely on desperate measures, but it seemed like he didn't have much of a choice.

His specially designed(and overly expensive) armour was the only reason why he could stay out of cover for more than a few seconds. It was made for him as a congratulations gift from his father when he was promoted to a Major years ago, probably the last thing Pacis has gotten from him before...

Unlike the standard issue shields that were meant to simply provide another second out of cover, the one in his suit was much tougher. He could endure a lot of fire power, in fact if he turned up his shields to an emergency maximum, he could probably survive(barely) a mass accelerated round of a tank. However, after that, the shields would be dead until he had the chance to replace the fried generator inside of his suit.

One way or another, Pacis had no choice but to use it.

With a quick tap on his Omni tool, the dull glow of his tech shield brightened to an almost blinding intensity for a moment. Even as he was running towards the shuttle, sparks sizzled angrily throughout the interface at the high strain. Despite being shot from behind, the turian kept going, thanking the spirits.

Without stopping to consider, Pacis tackled the limping soldier, carrying him towards the shuttle. When the human was in, he realized that there was another problem: there wasn't any space left in the already overcrowded shuttle. His six and a half feet tall frame had no way of fitting inside.

Finding a nice curve, the Turian used his talons to get a good grip on the contour of the shuttle. Fending off the concerned question on the radio, he snarled, "Just go!"

Only once the shuttle started rising, Pacis realized how uncomfortable this ride was going to be. The armoured gloves covering his talons were unable to offer any proper hold, but it was better than dying down there.

Looking behind him, he could see the Reaper troops scrambling towards the flying craft, but none of them were able to get to it, thanks to the unstopping support by the gunship.

His commanding officer's words rang out in his head, "Never allow yourself to be caught against the wall, especially when securing civilians. " That was as close as Pacis came to not following his advice.

The rest of the city came in view once they rose a few hundred feet off the ground, the grim view looked like a bleeding wound from a bullet. They have destroyed it in a matter of minutes, what kind of firepower did they possess?

A foreign yet familiar hum reached Pacis' ears, making him squint in confusion. From where did he recognize this? The report of a mass accelerator cannon answered him. A dreadnaught! Inside the atmosphere? The Capital Ships were causing enough disturbance in the balance as it is, but to bring in their own? This was getting risky. Not to mention that one dreadnaught didn't stand a chance-

The sudden sonic boom accompanied by a blinding flash exploded around him, despite being very far away from the explosion. Violent shaking overtook the shuttle, and even though it was able to stabilize, the turian felt his grasp slipping. It was futile to try to regain balance, but he did none the less.

His radio has gone out of commission, not letting him hear the calls of the other soldiers as he rushed to meet the ground.

What was the human idiom? Feeling like a bird in flight. Ironic for such situation and such individual.

Blackness.


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Did Deimos slip something into his drink again? It sure felt like it, as a horrible pounding in his head made Pacis groggily groan.

There was a reason why he never drank with the other officers, everyone seemed to be determined to 'loosen up the ice knight'. It was ridiculous.

Slowly, the turian began re-establishing his surroundings.

Being sent to Earth; talking with the human leaders; frustration; the unexpected assault by the Reapers; falling off the shuttle after the shockwave. Were they already desperate enough to bring dreadnoughts into the atmosphere? The wail of a human female from somewhere near him answered that question.

With a groan, the Spectre carefully got to his feet, having to use a nearby wall as to not fall. His armor has saved him from most of the damage, but the shock of the fall was enough to put a strain on his body. If he was a squishy human, he would've been a puddle on the floor. Always look at the bright side. Checking his Omni-tool, Pacis wasn't surprised to see that the small window dedicated to his shield's status was blank. He lost his assault rifle as well, although his Carnifex was still with him. He would be fine, even without the additional protection, he just had to be careful. Exactly like in Basic; one hit equaled three laps around the faculty.

For a moment, Pacis was tempted to use his biotics to create a protective layer around himself, but he resisted. His grasp of biotics was almost nonexistent, conducted by bursts of emotions. His teachers made sure he never used them before the first week was done. Since then, he must've used them five times in his whole career. Each convincing him further to avoid them at all cost.

His place of landing wasn't much to admire. A simple alley that had only one way in or out. At least it protected him while he wasn't able to do so.

The radio connection was still down, so calling up a fancy evacuation vehicle was out of question. The only way was forward, and the sound of gunshots prompted him to do exactly that.

Breaking into a light jog, the turian made it out of the alley to find himself in an abandoned road. Hover cars and shuttles decorated the dull floor, with added flickers of red and flesh. However, he was the only breathing being in the proximity of at least a few hundred meters. The imposing figures of Reaper Capital ships still loomed in the distance, but not close enough to pay any attention to him. His fall must've left him at the enemy's flank, where the deed has already been done.

It was daunting, standing at the deadly silent street. Pacis has been accustomed to living on the busy Palaven his whole life. Even the space stations he served on always provided a vocal output from someone.

He hoped Palaven didn't look like this. A sense of patriotism rose in him, certain that the turian people would never fall before a threat, but looking at the wreckage, Pacis felt the tendrils of doubt clawing at him.

Shouts drew his attention, this time not sounding as distant as before. Turning right when he came toward an intersection, the Spectre dropped down to avoid being seen by hostiles.

Taking a moment to assess the situation was the one thing that was drilled into his head by his many instructors, and for once, Pacis followed it.

There were less than two dozens of hostiles from what he could see, at least fifteen of these flesh-eating creatures as well as a few husks that were being blown away easily. Their target was a narrow gray building that had the words _'Central Metro_' on this side of the wall. Confusion crept up to him, he wasn't sure what a _Metro_ was, though he could distinctly remember it from a lecture about human transportation in the Xeno class. He could see at least five Alliance soldiers, easily recognized by their dark blue armour, defending the building.

Time to work the magic of flanking.

Taking cover behind an overturned car, Pacis opened fire at the hostiles with his pistol. The Alliance soldiers caught on quickly enough, though the turian had to dodge a few rounds at first. An intelligent enemy would've had trouble dealing with fire from both sides, therefore the husks were wiped out easily.

Holstering the pistol, the Spectre slowly came out of cover with his arms in front of him. When no shots rang out, he made his way to the entrance of the small building. It was closed by a metal door, but he was sure that they'll open it for him.

"Stop right there! What's your rank soldier?" A male voice came from above the turian. Looking up, Pacis was met with the view of a sniper rifle nuzzle pointing at him.

Good, they weren't naively trusting. That kind of attitude will put the difference between who shoots the bullet to the head in this war.

"Spectre Pacis. I can tell you about my career in the turian fleet, but I doubt you could verify it, especially now." He said, attempting to dissuade any notions of him being indoctrinated.

There was a shuffle inside, murmurs drifted by him, not loud enough for the turian to pick up on them. He kept glancing behind him, unable to completely let go of his paranoia of getting attacked.

The door slid open, once again letting a nuzzle of a weapon greet him. There were two men in the doorway. One of them was wearing the standard issue Alliance armour and helmet, he was the one pointing the assault rifle at him. The other man was standing slightly before the other one, but he wore a black hard suit, a small red right triangle emblem was on his chest plate, accompanied by a bone white N on the left of it. The soldier wasn't wearing a helmet, his raven black hair was grimy, the turian had to sympathise the man with that. Who would want to have hair?

The human's dark eyes held his own for long moments. Pacis let him, standing still and returning the stare with the same ferocity.

"Come on in then, no need to get caught in the rain." He said after a few moments. Pacis wasn't sure if it was a joke or some lost reference, but he didn't comment.

The interior was dark and unwelcoming, the floor was grimy with decades of dust. There were extinguished advert signs hanging on the walls, dating as far as 2090. Lovely place.

The human caught his look, and commented with a smile, "The place isn't too welcoming, the metro hasn't been used in almost a century. I guess the Brass knew what they were doing, since the Reapers pretty much overlooked this place. At least for now."

Using ancient foundations for a modern war, they really should give the humans some credit. Pacis almost snorted at the thought.

Closed booths indicated that the place ran deeper, but the soldier led him the opposite way. Pacis could've sworn he saw some movement coming from the shadows, but it was hard to make out with almost no source of light.

"What are they hoping to use it for?" The Spectre asked as they climbed up the stairs.

"An outpost on the enemy's flank. I was first stationed to defend our main military base here in Vancouver, but that went to hell once one of those massive ones landed right on us. We were able to take the bastard out, but that base is nothing but a pile of rubble now." A mixture of pride and anger dominated his voice as he explained. The turian felt surprised, the fact that they have taken down a Reaper was very good news.

After the entrance, the second floor looked very cozy. It was obviously personnel quarters or some kind of an office, a large room with once nice windows and walls. From that remained poorly hologram-barricaded windows and bullet ridden walls.

Three Alliance soldiers turned to greet them, each at their own preferred spot by the windows. Pacis wasn't surprised to see them stiffening when he came in view. There was a reason why he didn't want to stay on Earth.

"What's a turian doing here?" The man on the left asked rudely, he sounded young, which was expected.

The N operative was able to beat the turian's expectations once again, when he stepped out and barked at the young soldier, "Show some respect Roberts, he's a Spectre." Roberts seem to have more to say, but kept it to himself, returning to his spot with a huff. The two other soldiers didn't offer much other than an acknowledging nod.

Offering a hand, the human finally introduced himself, "N Specialist Bernard, it's a good thing to see a friendly face for once, human or not. We've been dealing with nothing but those zombies for the past three hours."

Three hours? He has been out for that long? It was worrying, but Pacis forced himself to concentrate on the important.

"N Specialist? I wasn't aware of such rank in the Alliance ladder." The Spectre said after following the peculiar human ritual of hand shaking, deciding to lean against the one table in the room, realizing just how weary he truly was.

Bernard smirked before replying, "You would've been correct three months ago. I'm guessing that you know about the N training program?" At the turian's nod he continued, "From what I've heard, Admiral Anderson himself came to talk with the top. He was one of the first graduates. After that, we were told that in a case of a intergalactic threat, we'd gain this new rank and be expected to lead small squads in strategic combat." The human gestured around himself with a bitter smile, "This attack is rather convenient for that whole plan."

So the Spectres weren't the only ones that have taken steps to insure at least some kind of security against the Reapers. Having specialists in command could increase their chances. But were they up to it?

The Specialist caught his look and must've understood the meaning behind it.

"You don't need to worry, sir. I was a Lieutenant Commander before I applied, I might not be a graduate, but not many soldiers can claim to have passed the third level of N training."

There was too much pride in that voice. Pacis could see that the man had skill and maybe even some natural talent, but his young age kept him from staying humble.

Pacis didn't try to contradict him, realizing that he was in no position to do so. He was nothing but a turian and the looks that he was getting from the other soldiers were anything but friendly.

"So what now?" He asked after a few moments of silence. They sure didn't have enough forces for a counter attack, though he might've tried something if he had a squad of turians.

"We wait for orders. I'm hoping that Command found some place to settle into, because it sure looks like we already lost most of the city." The former LC answered, the masked frustration in his voice still ringing clear in the quiet room. Pacis saw the others shifting uncomfortably at the edge of his field of view, he couldn't imagine how they were feeling. And yet, not a single word of sympathy could make it out.

One of the troops left her spot by the window, coming closer to her commander. Everything about her shouted exhaustion. Her dark blue armour was stained and grimy with spirits-know-what, the visor of her helmet was slightly cracked and she held on to her gun with only limp reluctance.

"Then what are doing here sir? Shouldn't we be helping out the fighting against these monsters?" Venom almost seemed to drip from her words. It has been less than a day.

As her commander answered, something caught the Spectre's eyes, causing him to walk towards the dark gray counter on the other side of the room. He could feel the scorching looks on his back, but he chose to ignore them. He picked up the small battery while still listening to the conversation.

"They have a reason for putting us here in this hellhole Corporal. I can't say that I see it, much less understand it. But we have to trust them, otherwise the Reapers are just going to tear us apart one by one." Bernard said gently, but still with enough authority so that they knew who was in charge. Pacis had to commend him to that, the human wasn't a lost case.

The same private from before came to stand near the corporal, his body tense as he supported the woman. "She's right sir, there must be something we can do. I'm not going to sit around while people die out there." She seemed pleased, but at the same time embarrassed at the outburst. The turian turned around to face the trio, curious to see how the LC handled the situation. A private would've been severely punished for speaking against a superior back home.

Bernard sighed in irritation. His fist clenching in a show of anger.

"Since the two of you can't seem to wait patiently for a few hours, I have something for you to do." Before the duo can get to excited, he continued. "Someone needs to clear out the deeper levels of the metro, in case we'll need to give refuge to any survivors. Corporal Xavier, I'm sure that you, Roberts and Spectre Pacis can handle it."

What? How did he get dragged into it? Despite his incredulousness, Pacis knew better than challenge the man in charge. This ought to be interesting.


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

The private's grumbling carried on through the whole way to the dark corridors of the metro, making Pacis wonder once again about the way humans trained their soldiers. He has seen many great examples, like Admirals Anderson and Hackett, who (as much as he hated to admit it) could easily match the finest turian commanders. And yet, the undisciplined bunch that Roberts represented kept humanity from receiving the same respect that the turians demanded.

Almost three years ago, thousands of humans sacrificed their lives in the Battle of the Citadel, just to save Destiny's Ascension. This decision, made by Commander Shepard, finally allowed the rest of the galaxy to see humans as something more than just an arrogant rash race. While Pacis personally didn't agree with the grant of a seat in the Council, he could see why it happened nevertheless. Shepard has proved to be arguably one of the best Spectres in a matter of a few months, casting her race in a very good light. The turian didn't understand why she was never properly introduced into the Spectre cycle, perhaps it was because of the fact that she always seemed to be on some mission of great importance.

"Shut it Roberts, you have no right to complain when it's your fault that we landed with this job." The corporal finally snapped at the soldier, obviously fed up with his childish skulking.

They already made it through the booths into the actual metro, which finally helped Pacis remember its functionality. Their job itself wasn't too hard; the three simply needed to scout the immediate area for possible living quarters and light the place up with some sticky lights that the LC found in the emergency compartment of the room. The dullness of the job didn't really bother Pacis, but it was obvious that the humans were less patient.

Corporal Xavier slightly turned to him as they continued walking down the hall, addressing him for the first time since their brief introduction upstairs. "We don't see many turians around here, much less Spectres." She stated with the unspoken question, both of them ignoring Roberts' muttered "With good reason."

Pacis couldn't see anything wrong with answering that question.

"I was sent to help with the communication between Earth and Palaven, since it was inevitable that one of the two was going to be attacked by the Reapers." Truthful but vague.

"But all communications are down, how can you really help with that?" The corporal asked in confusion, reminding Pacis of his QEC, he needed to try to contact someone once they returned to Bernard.

Before the turian can answer, Roberts shouted a warning, causing both of his companions to turn around in practiced ease with their weapons drawn. The source of alert was a few feet away from them. It seemed to be a human, but the Spectre couldn't really grasp his features because of the shadows that hid his face. It was a male, with dark dirty hair, but it was his posture that caught Pacis' attention; his unnaturally thin shoulders were drawn inwards, giving him a very hunched stance.

Even if the man looked hostile, they couldn't exactly point weapons at civilians. Pacis was just about to order the two to lower their weapons when more figures appeared behind the man. There must've been at least another two dozens of strangely hunched people slowly trudged to join their seeming leader.

Xavier decided to try and take the friendly soldier approach.

"Hey, are you guys alright? I know that you must be scared with the war going on up there, but you have to stay calm. If you come with us, we can get you to a safe place, where the machines can't get you." She said gently, slightly stepping forward. It was a risky move, they were horribly outnumbered and their best bet was to fall back to a better position.

However, the group forming in front of them didn't seem to even notice the corporal's words, muttering quietly between themselves.

Pacis' turian hearing allowed him to hear some snippets.

"Brought to us... That monster... They cannot be let out... We shall dine tonight..."

That was enough for him. Shooting a warning shot at the ceiling, the Spectre barked at Xavier. "Get back, Corporal. They're not in the right state of mind."

As to prove him right, the humans started hissing at him, not the slightest scared by the gunshot. Some of them carried blunt objects that could pass for rough clubs, while others barred their rotten teeth at the trio. A movement caught his eye, betraying the presence of three more savages trying to sneak behind of them.

The female soldier carefully got back, realizing the extent of their trouble. The savages snarled at her for her efforts. Xavier spoke lowly to them, hesitation clear in her voice.

"Any suggestions? I don't think that we can walk away from this one."

Instead of answering her vocally, the Spectre let his actions speak for him. With deadly precision, he took out three of the savages with his Carnifex while an Overload sent from his Omni-tool caused the three behind of them to collapse with wails.

The remaining hostiles charged at them with angry growls, catching the two soldiers off guard, who needed a few moments to start shooting. Pacis was able to shoot a couple of more shots before he was violently tackled by the leader of the pack. A struggle ensued between the two, where the human tried to pry off his armour to claw and bite him. Overcoming his initial surprise, the turian slammed his talon against the human's face, causing him to flinch back in pain. However, before the Spectre could reach his fallen pistol, his opponent was already back at his face, trying to inflict pain on him. Frustrated, Pacis slammed his leg against the man's knee, resulting in a loud crack that caused him to falter before landing another strike to the human's face that sealed the deal.

Getting up just in time, Pacis shot the last human that attempted to attack Xavier from behind as she sent a final burst of fire into the darkness.

Instead of the silent nod of appreciation that he expected, the Corporal marched up to him with an angry spring in her step. If he saw her face, Pacis was sure that it would've been full of unreasonable rage.

"What was that? They didn't even attack us! You can't just go around shooting civilians!" She demanded loudly, closing the distance between them despite being almost two feet shorter than him. Her assault rifle was still in her hands, which convinced him to be careful with his words.

"They outnumbered us Corporal, it was a matter of attack or be attacked. Considering our position, we needed that advantage." The Spectre said slowly, knowing that despite the fact that he easily outranked her, dismissing her anger wasn't going to accomplish anything. He could see that she understood; the human wasn't blind enough, but she was inexperienced in the harshness of war. "You can't deny that they weren't at the right state of mind, and if we left them here, we wouldn't be able to provide a safe place for refugees. " The turian continued quietly, but with a growing tone of authority.

Her rigid stance remained for a few seconds before finally slacking. He couldn't see her eyes, but he was sure that they had a defeated look in them.

"Fine, but we'll take it up with Bernard. Though he's probably going to back you up, being a special operative and all that." Xavier said bitterly, with an extra bite when she pronounced the Specialist's name.

For once, Roberts didn't have anything to offer, silently helping them to gather up the corpses of the savages. Once they properly cleaned up, Xavier announced that they were almost done with the scouting, Bernard didn't want to have them exploring too far inside. All in all, they determined that the outer area of the tunnels and metro alone could house a few hundreds of people, without taking supplies in account. The two soldiers seemed heartened by the first good news of the day, but Pacis was still feeling dubious. Their situation was grim, they were stranded out behind with no conventional way to contact their allies. But once again, the thought of the QEC registered into his mind. It was just in time, as they were heading back to the rest of the group. Xavier said that Bernard radioed to her, confirming that short-range radio connections still functioned with mild difficulties.

They were greeted with nozzles of assault rifles, but that quickly passed once they identified themselves. Bernard informed them that while they were gone, he and the other two privates fended off a few more attacks by the Reapers, but it didn't seem as if their little hideout was deemed as threatening. For now, they didn't need to worry about large scale attacks.

While Xavier (with Roberts' frequent comments) informed the Specialist of their success, Pacis fiddled with his Omni-tool. It wasn't designed to comply with the unique properties of the QEC, which meant the turian had to spend a certain period of time just configuring it to work properly.

After a few frustrating minutes, the communicator came to life with an unnecessary beep which caught the attention of the others. However, they refrained from commenting, which the Spectre truly appreciated. The QEC provided a minimized map of Earth, with all the online communicators on the planet. Another list on the side provided all of the communicators that he already contacted before, which was a rather short one. Like he expected, there weren't many other communicators on Earth, most of them flicking on and off on various parts of the planet, where most of the fighting must've been happening at the moment. The one connection he had to Palaven was oddly offline, which turned on a few alarm bells in his head. Was it because of the unimaginable amount of energy discharge on Earth?

He didn't have much time to ponder about it, since an icon of a communicator suddenly appeared on the outskirts of the city. Without a second thought, Pacis pressed on it in an attempt to hail it.

The Omni-tool illuminated the area close to it, drawing the complete attention of the rest of the soldiers. They waited in silence as the image shifted around statically, not settling into focus.

At long last, the form of a human man clad in an Alliance officer suit came in view, though it was still hazy from the poor connection.

"Who is this?" He demanded before his eyes settled on the turian. "Spectre Pacis! It was reported that you were KIA, I'm glad to see that they were wrong. What is your location? Have you made it out of Vancouver yet?" The man asked him after recovering from his surprise.

It took Pacis a moment to place the face with a name: Admiral Anderson was one of the few human officials who actually took the Reaper threat seriously before their arrival. He has heard a lot about him; the Admiral was almost as notorious as Commander Shepard herself.

The turian stretched his mandibles in a grin before replying. "I'm afraid not, Admiral. I'm still at the downtown of the city, I've had the fortune of meeting N Specialist Bernard and his squad at the Central Metro." Bernard stepped beside Pacis, snapping a crisp salute towards the Admiral.

Anderson looked surprised again.

"Specialist, I thought that you were trampled by that Reaper a few hours ago. I have no idea how you ended up there, but I won't question it. This is the first good news that I've heard in a while now." He said while taking his cap off, trying to brush the dust off of it. It was the first time Pacis noticed how bleak he looked, with a grimy and bloody uniform. Perhaps it was because all of them looked like that.

"No sir, we are still alive and kicking. This is great, we've been waiting for orders for a while now." Bernard replied with an unhealthy amount of excitement.

Anderson hummed inaudibly while looking at the duo.

"We don't have enough men in the city right now to make any conventional plans, but there's no point in withdrawing you from such a valuable position while the Reapers ignore you. Trouble is, Spectre Pacis is the only one with a working communicator as far as I know. We lost contact with a lot of squads in the city, so you can scout out and attempt to find them. You can use the metro as a main camp for the refugees, but stay out of the notice of the Reapers. A help from the inside is going to be invaluable when we take Vancouver back." Pacis didn't miss the hesitation in the Admiral's tone while saying "when", but he knew better than to mention it. Was there really a point in this? Was that what he was signed up for when coming to Earth?

He didn't have much of a choice in the matter, the Reapers would rip him to shreds before he'd make it out of the city.

The Specialist and the Admiral exchanged some information back and forth for a few moments. Most of the big cities have already fallen, but the humans were still fighting and losing ground. Anderson was responsible for the forces in the West Canadian vicinity, and he was having more luck than the others, which wasn't really good news.

"Keep me posted." Anderson parted with a command, aimed at Pacis more than Bernard, which the turian couldn't really understand. He wasn't an employee of the Alliance, just an independent aide sent from the Spectres.

It was clear that the soldiers felt better after seeing the Admiral, which was good, since Xavier forgot to tell Bernard about Pacis' part in the downstairs battle.

"You heard the Admiral, we'll get rest tonight and start scouting out for allies tomorrow in the early morning." Bernard dismissed them before going to his own cot.

The Spectre found an empty cot, far enough from the humans, only to realize that it could barely fit his frame. Settling uncomfortably into it, another problem sparked in his head before he fell asleep. Where was he supposed to get dextro amino food on Earth?


	5. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

"Any visuals?"

"Negative on our side, this street is dead."

The same exchange occurred for the twentieth time this morning, Pacis barely suppressed the sigh of frustration when Xavier cut the connection to tell them that the other team didn't find anything either. This was useless, they've wasted their whole morning searching for the aforementioned marine squads with no results. The streets were completely empty, if the superficial damage of the buildings and roads weren't visible, the turian would've thought that yesterday was nothing but a dream.

"This is really weird Corporal, when did the Reapers have the time to clean up the streets so thoroughly?" Roberts agreed with his unvoiced thoughts. It was the three of them again, since Bernard decided that they made a very nice team while taking the other two privates with him. Pacis guessed that Xavier decided not to mentioned the little incident in the metro to the Specialist, for the sake of keeping the peace between the few of them. That decision made the turian respect her a bit more.

Xavier didn't turn around as they carefully made their through the rubble, answering the private quietly.

"I don't have the slightest idea Roberts, from what I've heard, the Reapers are capable of much more than we know."

A truer statement hasn't been spoken. Despite having a fair idea to how and why the Reapers took the corpses of the already dead humans, Pacis knew better than to mention anything. If they really knew what was happening to these people, he doubted many of them would have the strength to keep the fight going on.

A sudden sound caused the trio to quickly duck down, their weapons at ready to welcome the uninvited guest. Surprisingly enough, they were greeted the same way. Five soldiers in Alliance armour were aiming their various guns at them, both parties unsure how to act.

Finally, Xavier took the position of a commanding officer.

"Corporal Xavier, indentify yourself soldier."

The familiarity of military courtesy snapped the other group from the stunned silence. The soldier in front of the squad stepped forward, snapping a salute towards the Corporal.

"Lieutenant Lee, I'm glad to see some humans around here." Pacis didn't miss the look the helmeted man sent him. "Our shuttle was shot down before we could make it out, is evac on the way?" He asked the woman.

Curiosity filled the Spectre, he wanted to see how the Corporal was able to handle telling the bad news to an officer of a higher rank. True to his suspicions, Xavier was very hesitant to admit the truth.

"Uhh... I'm sorry Lieutenant, there is no planned evacuation for us. We were able to contact Admiral Anderson and he ordered us to stay inside of the city and find as many stragglers as possible." She finally said in a firm voice. Pacis was surprised, the woman kept startling him.

"You contacted the Admiral? I was under the impression that all long-range communications were down." Lee replied in suspicion, unconsciously taking a more aggressive stance. Mistrust was already running high, only a day after the incident. The turian noted the way his squad mates followed his movements without question, the man commanded the respect that Bernard wasn't exactly able to. Roberts was reaching towards his own rifle, Pacis did his best to stop him without attracting attention.

Xavier realised her mistake and hastily tried to calm the already trigger-happy soldiers.

"It was Spectre Pacis, he uh... his Omni-tool..." It was then that she remembered that the turian didn't exactly share his method of communication. The corporal gestured to him in a slightly desperate tick.

Pacis was inclined to sigh in frustration again, but he stopped himself. Every time one of the humans did something smart for a change, they had to follow up with an action equal in stupidity. He didn't want to see the ratio between their geniuses and slackers.

Stepping forward, fully knowing that their attention (and half-drawn weapons) were directed at him, Pacis let them see that he didn't pose a threat. Yet.

"Lieutenant, as a contact between the Human Alliance and the Turian Hierarchy I was provided a Quantum Entanglement Communicator. I believe that they are the only communicators that still work, there are only a few of them on Earth and the Admiral has one in his current base. His company is outside of the city, and we were ordered to gather forces to aid in the recapturing of Vancouver, since the initial defending forces have been pushed back." He knew that he was really pushing the boundaries of truth there, but there was no better way to appease the angry mob of five.

Lee stared deeply into his eyes, attempting to find folly or deception. It was odd, Pacis was starting to think that it was some sort of a human ritual. For him, such prolonged eye contact with strangers signaled aggression and disrespect, therefore he couldn't help but tense in response. Bad decision.

"Is that so? You turians think that humans can't handle themselves, is that what this is all about?" The man asked him while striding into Pacis' personal space, getting close enough for the turian to rip his helmet off with one swipe. It wasn't easy to resist the urge, but he wasn't able to stop his mouth.

"Just look around Lieutenant, I think that it'll answer your question." He said ruthlessly, close enough to hear the human's growl through his mask.

They were spared from a hand-to-hand combat by Xavier who hurriedly announced that Bernard's team found another squad of three and that he has ordered for them to return to the metro. The whole way there, Lee shot dirty looks at the turian, who could see them despite the fact that he was wearing a helmet. Weren't they supposed to be calm soldiers? He wasn't even that angry at Lee, his bigotry annoyed Pacis, but he dealt with much worse morons before. He was acting completely unprofessional, the Spectre realised, provoking allies into fights was the last thing they needed right now.

Suddenly, Xavier broke into a run, taking out her assault rifle midstride. Pacis didn't even stop for a moment to question her, following her speed while drawing out his Carnifex. He could hear the others follow after a few seconds of hesitation.

When the metro came into view, the reason for the run became apparent. Hordes of husks and the flesh-eating creatures were rushing towards the entrance of the metro, being held off by the fire from Bernard's team, but just barely. Pacis noted absently that it was the same place that he came from yesterday. The only difference this time was that there were eight of them outside.

He opened fire at the hostiles without waiting for the obvious order, mowing down as many of them as he could manage.

Eighty.

Inserting another thermal clip, Pacis moved into the enemy line and climbed up on an abandoned truck, knocking a husk out with a punch. The new position on it gave him the ability to harass the Reaper forces despite being in cover, which drew them out to face the fire of his allies.

The fire fight shouldn't be lasting for that long, Pacis thought with calculating confusion. Somehow, the husks and flesh eaters were much more resilient than the ones that he had faced yesterday. Looking closer, he saw that they were all adorned with the unnatural plating he saw yesterday, it acted like armour. Despite being out of actual cover, the husks were able to withstand a very impressive amount of damage.

Pacis reeled back when he was hit from behind. Turning around, the sight stopped him cold on his feet. It wasn't an ordinary husk that snuck behind of him, none of them was able to reach his height. For a moment, the turian wondered if he was staring through some kind of a wicked mirror. The thing was a turian, of that he was sure, but it was perverted and melded into something so wrong that Pacis couldn't find the right words to describe it. Turian plating was one of the most sacred and respected features in their society, which caused the Spectre feel sick when he saw the unnatural manipulation of the thing's face. There has been many debates about combining organic tissue with synthetics, but now that Pacis could see the bleeding abused flesh of the thing fused to steel coating, he couldn't imagine why anyone would want that.

The creature waited patiently for the turian to look at it, Pacis couldn't decide if it was from pride or accusation. It was then that it aimed a Phaeston assault rifle at him and Pacis reacted in an instinct, slamming the rifle down with a talon and shooting at the creature with his Carnifex. Surprisingly, it withstood much more fire than he expected. A light shimmering informed the turian of the shields that it possessed, since when have the Reapers started equipping their ground troops with shields?

Once the creature was dead, Pacis turned around to face the ongoing battle. While he was distracted, the humans were able to clear out most of the remaining husks. Something caught his eye, causing the turian to look towards where they came from. He couldn't pinpoint an exact number, but there was another hostile force heading towards the unsuspecting humans, composed out of more of those turian abominations, a few Collectors and something huge that Pacis didn't recognize.

Grabbing the Phaeston from the ground, the turian aimed towards the advancing group with a shout into his radio, "More hostiles incoming, get into the building."

Despite his suppressing fire, the humans only had enough time to change the direction of their cover before the beast rushed into their ranks. It had a turian head. Pacis cursed before rushing towards it, the rifle in his hand vibrating from the amount of rounds he was putting into this creature.

At long last, the huge monster noticed that it was being hit from behind. Lumbering clumsily around, it turned to face him with a huge roar. The turian just had enough time to jump to the side before it slammed into the truck behind of him. Frustrated, the beast covered its face with a gigantic arm against the constant stream of fire from Pacis. A loud shot rang out from the building, hitting the beast straight in the face. It roared in pain and Pacis saw his chance. Rushing towards it, he activated the newest gadget of his Omni-tool, slamming the blade right between the plates on the creature's face. It fell down with a final whine, collapsing in the sudden silence. The remaining hostiles were either mowed down by human fire or ran away at the sight of their advantage's death.

Pacis wasn't able to will himself to move away from the corpse, the torn turian visage stared lifelessly at him, a residue of intelligence showed the pain that it went through during that transformation. He heard someone making their way to him, but he didn't even bother turning around. A gasp followed after a few moments.

"Is that... A turian?" Xavier asked hesitantly, stopping beside the Spectre. He didn't answer, turning away and striding towards the truck where Bernard already made his way to, the human must've seen Pacis' confrontation with the torn turian.

The Specialist was kneeling down, looking at the fallen turian but he turned around when he heard Pacis steps. There was a mixture of horror and pity on his face, but Pacis didn't acknowledge neither of the emotions. His own face was drawn into a tight mask of indifference after taking off his helmet, he needed some fresh air, and yet the air stank of unmentionable abominations that made his stomach turn.

"I guess the Reapers don't wait around for long, if they didn't even give us more of a day to properly fight against them." The human said quietly, averting his eyes from the turian's cold ones.

It was more than that. The Reapers would have more than enough forces to engage two major civilizations and crush both of their impressive armies in moments. And yet, Pacis couldn't bring himself to acknowledge the possibility of his race falling before the threat of the Reapers, they were the best the galaxy could offer. These husks must've been from stragglers and mercenaries that didn't travel in turian space.

"Specialist Bernard?" Lee asked from behind, followed by Xavier and another soldier that Pacis hasn't seen yet. His rank was identical to Xavier's, which made him a corporal as well.

Introductions were made between all of them. Lieutenant Lee and Corporal Manilow lead two of the many squads left behind to cover the evacuation of civilians from the city, but they lost contact with anyone from the remaining military. Of course, they couldn't expect all of these squads to have survived; the attack from moments ago has already claimed another life from Lee's squad and another soldier was injured. Bernard's team found Corporal Manilow and his two privates, they were protecting three families who were in the metro at the moment, making them the first alive non-soldiers in the city that they have found.

Letting the rest of the soldiers into the metro, the five made their way into one of the private offices of the directors. Lee sounded his protest right away.

"Specialist, with all due the respect, I hardly believe that the turian is needed for this."

Silence reigned in the room before Bernard replied, "_Spectre Pacis_ is the one that made it possible to contact Admiral Anderson. I wouldn't be surprised if he has more combat experience than all of us put together. We need to stick together and use all of the assets that we are given, as limited as they are."

Pacis had to like the way he phrased his response, appealing to both sides while still lacing his voice with authority. The Lieutenant didn't look too happy, but he didn't voice any more concerns about that. With their helmets off, Pacis was given the chance to assess their faces, which didn't tell him anything important. Lee was a dark haired man with distinct Asian features, from what he could remember from his studies of human history. Manilow had red hair, he was pale and currently had a bemused expression on his face, looking at the turian with interest. Xavier had light brown hair, but her paleness seemed to be unnatural, accentuated by a nervous moving of her eyes around the room.

Bernard was the one to open the makeshift meeting, standing stiffly in the front of the room.

"The metro is going to be a safe place for some time, I am hoping that the Reapers weren't alerted of this place. And even if they were, I don't think that they see us as much of a threat yet. We'll send another team to check the tunnels of the metro, just to see how many people we can fit there. We've already tripled our numbers from yesterday, which means there will be more people protecting the metro."

Manilow interrupted politely from his own position of leaning against the wall, "What's the purpose in staying here? The Alliance needs us on the front lines, fighting the Reapers, not hunting for survivors in the wrecks of the city."

Pacis couldn't resist, "What front lines? Most of the main forces have been pushed out of the city, a frontal attack isn't going to achieve anything."

Lee countered, "It was because of the surprise element. We were ready to face a threat, but these Reapers are using horror tactics to put us off balance. They are going to stop working soon enough, and then the fleet..."

"The fleet was supposed to be defending your Earth. Seeing as the capital ships were able to make it to the surface, I think that it's safe to say that there isn't much of it left to perform a counter attack." Pacis' words had a sobering effect on the room. He didn't know why he was saying all of these things, there was no sense in killing morale.

It was Xavier who finally spoke, "We don't know that for sure, so there's no point in worrying about that. There are troops and lost civilians in the city, and we are the few who can actually find them and offer at least some kind of protection."

Pacis didn't reply, which turned the attention back to the Specialist. He cleared his throat uncomfortably.

"We need to hold the hope that everyone is doing their part in this war against the Reapers. For now, our objective is to raise a formidable unit that will be able to aid the Alliance when the time is right." He ensued orders to each of the soldiers in the room, assigning jobs and duties to each of the squads. They needed to bring this metro into a defendable and livable condition, while searching for supplies and survivors in the surrounding city.

Bernard dismissed them quickly after that, but requested Pacis to stay behind. Catching the looks on the others' faces, he knew that they had a good idea about what was going to happen.

Once the room was empty, Bernard leaned against the wall with a tired sigh, not looking at the turian.

"Pacis, I know very well that I don't have any commanding power over you, despite the fact that you've pretended to take orders from me to appease the others. Therefore, I'm not even going to try to punish or scold you. This is no ordinary operation, we are really hanging on by a thread over here." Pacis didn't acknowledge the truth in his statement, preferring to stare at the Specialist mutely.

"Those new creatures do confirm that the Reapers have already reached turian space, but I can't have it distracting you and risking the lives of the others. As much as I don't like to admit it, Palaven has much more of a fighting chance against the Reapers than Earth has ever had. But that doesn't mean that you are going to compromise our position here. Is that clear?" The question was still delivered with authority, despite what he said before.

The Spectre considered his words, already knowing that the human was right. He didn't have a reason not to suspect that the Reapers would attack his own race at some point. People were going to die, that much was obvious, he needed to learn to accept that.

"Crystal."


End file.
